Clover Valley Dairy Case Study

Clover Valley Dairy

Camden, New Jersey

May 17, 2014

To: Charles Krieger – President/ Clover Valley Dairy

Dear Charles,

I am writing you in response to your concern regarding a market test of the new 6 oz. cups and multi-pack yogurt carriers that Clover Valley Dairy would like to introduce to our customers. The purpose of the research project will be to see if the new type of packaging for yogurt will be worth the change and if our consumers are accepting of the new change. It will tell us if our new six-cup carrier is effective or not. I feel the new type of carrier should be tested in non-competing areas. However, it should also be tested in our market as well as our competitor’s market. A key part in testing this new product and/or design should begin with our competitor’s in mind. Knowing what our competitor’s offer and how well it is being accepted by the consumer should be the determining factor in our decision for a test. Knowing our market and what it offers will give us an idea of how our customers will be impacted. This also will let us know why we should consider our competitor’s and non-competitor’s customer views, for comparison. By not doing so, we may hinder our ability to find out what will and what won’t really sell. I suggest that we limit our test to one competitor only. This will allow us to have more money in our budget but also allow us to get the information that we need.

If testing is necessary, what would be the criteria for success or failure? It is my belief that the main point to stress would be to show how sales are impacted. Many times sales can be increased simply by the look of a package for an item. If the packaging of a new item/product is well presented, often times the customer will purchase the item/product simply because of its appearance. Many surveys have been done about the appearance of a product by targeting a certain type of consumer, namely women. These surveys have shown that if...